The Swindler

 “Giddy up Dreamer! Quick! They’re gaining on us!” 

The hooves of the galloping white pony hit the cracked ground. Clouds of red dust erupted from the barren landscape as they fled toward the shelter of a nearby ravine. 

Anna picked up a rein, guiding Dreamer off the open desert trail. The pony dropped her inside shoulder and wrapped herself tightly around the corner of the canyon entrance. 

The thundering hooves echoed from the rock walls that grew taller as they navigated the narrow passage. Anna squeezed the pony with her calves, urging her to move faster. She felt the power between her legs as the mighty pony pushed harder, weaving her way around the large rocks scattered across the trail. “Good girl Dreamer! If we get out of here alive, I’ll bake you a carrot cake.” 

She should have known not to cheat the Gorganii, but their lust for gold had made them a tempting target. Their prehistoric appearance and archaic ways had fooled Anna into believing she could outsmart this outer-world race. 

“They skin their prisoners alive and salt their flesh. Then they hang them in the streets until the hot dry air cures the bodies like human jerky. I’m not worth it.” Her father had begged her several times not to go to Gorgan but the gold they hoarded would pay their rent for decades, maybe even a lifetime. 

The canyon walls expanded, spitting them back into the open alien desert. There was no way to outrun them now. This was their home and when the lizard-like beasts dropped to all fours, they could scurry across the rock-littered landscape faster than any horse could gallop it. Anna knew Dreamer’s short legs were no match for the Goroganii. It would only take a minute to activate the transporter. They had to find somewhere to hide. 

A cloud of red dust was quickly approaching. At this rate, she would be skinned and salted before she had the chance to dismount, let alone activate the interstellar transporter. 

Turning Dreamer back towards the ravine, she noticed a bolder just big enough; she hoped for the compact pair. Her small stature was not only misleading, people often mistook her for a child, which made cheating them so much easier, but it also came in handy when she needed to disappear. 

There weren’t a lot of options for the only daughter of a poverty-stricken poet in the galactic community. Her father’s mad passion had taken them all over the galaxy. A slave to his art, he refused to do anything but, including caring for his growing child. “Going hungry is good for the sentiments of the spirit,” he told her. Frustrated and hungry, young Anna had learned to care for herself the only way she could. 

She picked up the rein and shifted her weight. Right on cue, Dreamer dropped her shoulder, allowing her to whip around the boulder. 

As they turned, the last ace slipped from Anna’s sleeve. Proof of her deceit lay exposed in the dirt, but there was no way to grab it without being seen by the approaching hoard.

Anna coughed, choking on the cloud of dust that drifted towards the boulder as the angry posy of reptilian creatures scuttled past. Their mighty tails thrashed as they propelled them like a fifth limb.

The lashing tails of the galloping Gorganii were uncomfortably close. Anna felt a sudden sting, followed by a trickle of sticky liquid dripping down her face. “The dried and salted bodies are treats for their children,” she could hear her father’s warning, “I appreciate your help, but I’m not worth the risk, my child.” 

He was right, he shouldn’t be worth the risk after all he’s put her through, but he was the only family she had. Watching him perish, a homeless poet tormented by his art, was something she couldn’t do. Paying the room and board for his home on the Darwinian Space Station was more than he deserved, but at least she could sleep at night knowing that one of them was fit to be a parent. 

The straggler in the rear of the pack must of heard her cough. “Look here! I found another Ace! She’s got to be close!” 

“Please work,” she whispered as she slid off the side of the pony and clutched her neck. Tapping together the sliver spurs that cupped the heel of her worn boots. 

Nothing. Panic overtook her body, forcing Anna to freeze. 

The Goraganii tripped and fumbled as they attempted the tight turn with their awkwardly long bodies. 

“Stupid piece of junk transporter! Work dam it!!” She tapped the ornate silver spurs again. 

Anna’s skin crawled in fear as she watched the angry aliens scramble back to their feet, regaining their alarming pace. 

“You cheat!” Broacht, the Gorgan Zhar lead the galloping mob, frothing at the mouth with rage. Strings of saliva trailed from his scaled jaw. 

Anna could feel the weight of the golden artifact pushing against her. The jewel-encrusted medallion had been his most prized treasure. Its weight now pressing harder against her thigh as its keeper drew closer. 

“That belongs to my clan! You horrid thief!” he lunged towards her. Almost within striking distance as he unleashed the first batch of corrosive venom. 

Dodging the incoming assault, Anna clicked her spurs one more time. A flash of light filled the air. She clung hard to Dreamer’s neck as the world around them dissipated. The sound of giant scurrying lizards still haunted her ears as the world dissolved. 

For a moment, there was nothing. No sound, no light, no feeling of weight. There was just a pause where only consciousness existed. A single moment of true serenity before the transporter spat them back out into reality, dumping all owned sensations back onto their bodies like baggage being hurled from an interstellar bus. 

It took a moment, as it always does for the pair to come to their sense after the reaperation process. 

Anna scanned their surroundings, momentarily terrified. They could be anywhere. The only thought in her mind as she activated the transporter was escape. Worse yet, they could be somewhere they had escaped from before. 

As luck would have it, they had landed on another outer-world planet. It was dark, but at first glance, there was nothing familiar. A few stores, closed for the night, a bank, a brothel, and a lively-looking salon. 

“Well Dreamer, it looks like we have a whole new world to swindle.” she gave the pony a pat, tucked a few aces up her sleeve, and headed towards the salon.